In a United States patent application Ser. No. 07/846,322, filed on Mar. 5, 1992, entitled Hemostatic Puncture Closure System and Method of use, which has been assigned to the same assignee as this invention, and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a system including a closure device and method of use for sealing a small incision or puncture in tissue separating one portion of the body of a living being from another portion thereof, e.g., a percutaneous puncture in a artery, to prevent the flow of a body fluid, e.g., blood, through the puncture. The closure device comprises three components, namely, an anchor member, a sealing member, and a filament, e.g., suture. The sealing member is formed of a hemostatic material, e.g., compressed collagen foam. The anchor member includes a tissue engaging portion configured to pass through the puncture in one direction but resistant to passage therethrough in the opposite direction. The sealing member includes a tissue engaging portion. The filament is connected between the anchor member and the sealing member in a pulley-like arrangement so that they may be moved relative to each other by the application of a pulling force on the filament.
The means for introducing the closure into the percutaneous incision or puncture comprises a tubular member having a distal free end arranged to be inserted into the puncture tract and through the puncture in the vessel. A closure carrier is arranged to be inserted through the tubular introducer member to expel the anchor member of the closure therefrom and to draw it into engagement with the distal free end of the tubular introducer member. The introducer member and the closure carrier are arranged to be moved together to draw the closure anchor into engagement with the interior tissue of the blood vessel contiguous with the puncture. The filament is arranged to be pulled to pull the closure's anchor and its sealing member relative to each other to cause the sealing member to engage tissue contiguous with the puncture outside of the vessel.
The system disclosed and claimed in that application includes various types of position detecting devices and a method of use to enable one to readily determine the location of the wall of the vessel or lumen by the percutaneous introduction of the device into the vessel or lumen. Those devices are disclosed as suitable for use as part of a system or method to seal a percutaneous puncture or incision in a vessel or lumen or may be used for other purposes, e.g., they may be used for any application wherein it is desirable to determine the location of a vessel or lumen wall via a percutaneous incision or puncture.
While the position indicating devices disclosed and claimed in the foregoing patent application are suitable for their intended purposes, they never the less leave something to be desired from the standpoint of simplicity of construction and ease of use.